‘These Guys Are Great’: Watch Cher Recount Her Very First Experience With Gay Men
Legendary music icon Cher didn’t just pop out of the womb loving gay men. She had to learn about our fabulousness. In a recent interview with Gays and Lesbians Allied Against Defamation (GLAAD), Cher discusses her first experience encountering gay men. It seems the “Cher gay men connection” undoubtedly influenced how she approaches them as fans and even how she approaches her own music.
The “Cher gay men connection”
As everyone and your mom knows by now, in the Mamma Mia sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Cher plays Ruby Sheridan, mother to Donna (Meryl Streep). During her appearance, Cher sings the ABBA classic “Fernando,” a song reminiscing about love that blossomed during a time of war.
In a recent interview with GLAAD, Cher explains that she chose actor Andy Garcia to play the role of “Fernando.” When the interviewer asks Cher why she thinks ABBA’s music resonates so deeply among gay men, she laughs and says, “Alright, you may not like this, but …”
She goes on to say, “The first gay men I met, I was 12 years old, and I came home from school and there were these two guys in our living room. And they were talking to my mom and her best friend. And I was … they were so happy and excited about everything they were talking about, so animated. And I thought, ‘These guys are much more fun than the regular men that come over to visit.’ And I didn’t know that they were gay, but I just thought, ‘These guys are great,’ and it just started from them.”
She later mentions how much fun the movie is and how the music adds to that fun. So basically, in her mind, gay men love ABBA because gay men love fun.
Here’s the video in which we learn about Cher’s first gay man.
Later on in the interview, Andy Garcia says that acting alongside Cher was another check off of his bucket list. Furthermore, Cher and Garcia’s cover of ABBA’s “Fernando” has since made the best-selling music list, quite an accomplishment for the duo.
Since beginning her career Cher has since gone on to become beloved amongst gay men for being a strong, independent and multi-talented woman. She performed at the world-famous Sydney Gay Mardi Gras earlier this year, and it was announced just this week that her upcoming album will be an ABBA cover album.
